Bud Washing

Bucket 2: 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup Lemon Juice into RO Water
I add about a 1/2 cup of baking soda to about 2 gallons of water and after stirring it up a bit will pour in a cup of lemon juice and mix it. When the fizzing stops I add more juice and if it fizzes then I mix some more since not all the baking soda was used up.

I keep adding lemon juice and mixing until all the baking soda is used up.
 
I add about a 1/2 cup of baking soda to about 2 gallons of water and after stirring it up a bit will pour in a cup of lemon juice and mix it. When the fizzing stops I add more juice and if it fizzes then I mix some more since not all the baking soda was used up.

I keep adding lemon juice and mixing until all the baking soda is used up.
What's the significance of mixing until it stops fizzing?
 
What's the significance of mixing until it stops fizzing?
Using up both ingredients.

The idea is to use the action of the bubbles of carbon dioxide formed by the chemical reaction between the lemon juice and baking soda to remove the dust and other particles from the surfaces of the buds. It is a gentle cleaning action. There is no advantage to having excess baking soda left over that has to be rinsed out of the bucket and from the buds.
 
I'm glad to see people are adopting my bud washing technique!

Yes, I "invented" it. I shared it with you folks here on 420....and nowhere else. I've never met, spoken to, or heard about anyone else doing it before I tried it.....and I enjoy freaking people out by putting fresh buds in a bucket of water....

But as many have said here, the results speak for themselves!

Let me put it to you like this:

Let's say I grew lettuce, cucumbers, tomatos and carrots in my basement. It's dusty down there, I've got fans flowing all around....battled with some PM, had some mites.....every now and then I get some rot or other disease on my plants....bugs flying around, dead skin cells, hair.....and I spray the plants with compost tea, fish fertilizer, kelp meal, etc.

So, you wanna come over for a salad? We'll just pull the veggies out of the ground, plop 'em in a bowl and start eating! No need to wash.....right?


The first time you wash your harvest and see all that brown crap left behind you'll begin to see the light! Then, when you smoke your first washed harvest, you'll understand.

For those who are new to this, here's my method:

4 buckets total. (5 gallon buckets are perfect)

Bucket 1: 3 parts RO water to 1 part 3% H202.
Bucket 2: 5 gallons of RO with 1 cup baking soda, 1 cup Lemon Juice
Buckets 3 and 4: RO only.

Cut down plants, pull off fan leaves by hand, remove any necrotic leaves. Leave sugar leaves and anything with frosting on the plant.

Fully submerge in bucket 1 (H2O2) for 30 seconds. Submerge for a full minute if you had ANY sign of PM or bud rot. Let water drip from buds and then.....

Fully submerge in buckets 2 through 4 for 30 seconds each...lightly agitating the whole time.

Allow produce to drip dry. You can blow a fan on it if you like, just make sure it's blowing clean air.

Hang and dry per usual.

Final manicure of buds is best done after they dry. It goes very fast and you're left with washed, highly resinous trim....makes superb joints. I'm also educating my customers to select untrimmed buds, which are actually better than the manicured ones because they still have sugar leaves attached. The trichomes in the leaves have more THC than those in the buds.....so it's good to get the whole spectrum in there.

I give instructions for this in my journals, as I do it every single week, on every single harvest. Once you try it, you'll never go back.

This works so well for a couple reasons:

1. takes off dirt, foliar sprays, bugs, fiberglass dust, etc.
2. fully hydrates the leaves, allowing photosynthesis to occur for a day or two on cut and trimmed buds. I recommend leaving a light on the buds for the first day or two after washing.

This results in very, dense, clean burning, smooth tasting produce! That's the basic recipe....and I'm tweaking and changing it all the time.

Warning: Do NOT use an "organic produce wash" that is based on oils! They sell these in grocery stores and health food stores, and while they might be good for lettuce and cukes....the oil removes resin from the plants.....don't use it!

Water will not harm resin....oil can and does.


Anyone who wants to know more about my methods is welcome to ask me about them anytime!
Hey DocBud ,

Im just about to harvest my greenhouse grow and i am about to wash my bud using your method.


I only have 10 Litre Buckets and i only have 1Litre of 3% Peroxide.
Your recipe says 1 part Peroxide to 3 parts water but this would mean i would need 2.5 Liters of peroxide per my 10Litre bucket? . Other recipes say 10ML per 1Liter . Would this be okay?


Also with the lemon juice and baking soda in a 10L bucket would a 1/2 a cup of each be enough ?
Thanks in Advance :)

Nicola
 
Do you need the peroxide step? It's only necessary if you're trying to treat possible mold. Otherwise you're better off skipping that part. It can have an effect on terps.

1/2 cup of each will be fine in 10L of water. 1/4 would probably be enough. The wash helps with the dry and cure as much as it "cleans" the herb. Most of the action comes from simply rinsing in water.

:thumb:
 
Hey.

Well i have 2 plants one Orion F1 that is ready to chop now. And one Amnesia ready in about a weeks time.

My problem is i had 2 small spots of bud rot on the Ammo due to a massive spike of humidity in my area, i caught it super early and cut off the effected bits ( was super careful used gloves ect) there wasnt much there and i didnt loose much, ( still gutted though as they are my babies and this is only my second grow 🥺) and apart from that they've done amazing 🙌 . Anyway that was 5 days ago and so far there is no other signs of bud rot at all. The F1 hasnt had any signs of BR at all but they've both been next to each other the whole time in the greenhouse so i thought id need to peroxide both of them for this purpose due to possible spores?
Id rather skip if i could . Sorry for the long post 🤣

Thankyou so much for your reply 💚
 
I only have 10 Litre Buckets and i only have 1Litre of 3% Peroxide.
Your recipe says 1 part Peroxide to 3 parts water but this would mean i would need 2.5 Liters of peroxide per my 10Litre bucket? .
No need to use the entire volume of the bucket unless you have a massive harvest. I have 2 and 1/2 gallon (10 liter) buckets and I will use 3 quarts (liters) of water and the one quart (liter) bottle of Peroxide.

Also with the lemon juice and baking soda in a 10L bucket would a 1/2 a cup of each be enough ?
Again, it is not necessary to fill the bucket. The volume of water will have little to do with the amounts of soda and lemon juice. For the baking soda step I use about 6 to 8 quarts of water. Then I put in the baking soda, anywhere from a 1/4 cup to a 1/2 cup and swish the plant material all around so the soda is swirling. Then I pour in about a cup of lemon juice. It should start to fizz and bubble up as the acid in the juice reacts to the base in the soda. This is slowly reducing the soda and juice back to neutral. When the fizzing stops add some more juice. It should start fizzing again. I do this step several times until there is no more fizzing which tells me that the soda has been used up and no point in continuing.

Have fun.
 
. For the baking soda step I use about 6 to 8 quarts of water. Then I put in the baking soda, anywhere from a 1/4 cup to a 1/2 cup and swish the plant material all around so the soda is swirling. Then I pour in about a cup of lemon juice. It should start to fizz and bubble up as the acid in the juice reacts to the base in the soda. This is slowly reducing the soda and juice back to neutral. When the fizzing stops add some more juice. It should start fizzing again. I do this step several times until there is no more fizzing which tells me that the soda has been used up and no point in continuing.
Yeah, I wouldn't do that.

No one else on this thread has ever suggested that. All the testimonials are about what works fine - equal amounts soda and lemon juice - no pouring until bubbles stop, etc.

But anyone else can sure experiment for themselves.
 
Ahh okay , Ill keep to mixing the lemon juice after the baking soda like original post says.
This is my 1st time bud washing , didn't know about it on my 1st grow last year and i am so grossed out at the amount of bugs i probably smoked 🤢 😅.

@Graytail Do you think i need the peroxide step then?
 
@Graytail Do you think i need the peroxide step then?
I'm not a good one to ask because I don't worry about mold very much in my life. :cheesygrinsmiley:

Others have to be more careful. Maybe just go with what you have - use a diluted peroxide mix or use less water?

It's your judgment. :Namaste:
 
No one else on this thread has ever suggested that. All the testimonials are about what works fine - equal amounts soda and lemon juice - no pouring until bubbles stop, etc.
Why not? It is the natural reaction between the soda and acids in the lemon juice. The juice stops being acidic and the soda stops being base. Most of the end result is carbon dioxide in the bubbles and the lemon juice becomes water and there is a bit of sodium citric or similar.

The strongest reaction does seem to be the first mixing of the soda and juice.

In the end if all the baking soda is not used up then there will still be a lot of particles of the stuff which take extra rinsing to remove.
 
Your logic is fine, but it hasn't been tested by hundreds of people over a decade. :Namaste:

This thread records the results of Doc's method.

(Somewhere later in the thread he reduces the measure to half cup of each in 5 gallons.)
 
Okay Thankyou 🙂

@SmokingWings Thanks ill try using less water so the ratios dont have to be as much . I'd rather skip peroxide if i can tho , kinda scares me that step 🤣
Understandable. I do the step as a precaution against powdery mildew.

The Peroxide itself is safe. While it is no longer recommended for cuts, scrapes and burns some dentists still recommend it for reducing some infections of the mouth or gums.
 
Hey DocBud ,

Im just about to harvest my greenhouse grow and i am about to wash my bud using your method.


I only have 10 Litre Buckets and i only have 1Litre of 3% Peroxide.
Your recipe says 1 part Peroxide to 3 parts water but this would mean i would need 2.5 Liters of peroxide per my 10Litre bucket? . Other recipes say 10ML per 1Liter . Would this be okay?


Also with the lemon juice and baking soda in a 10L bucket would a 1/2 a cup of each be enough ?
Thanks in Advance :)

Nicola
Hi NIcola. Do not use the peroxide unless you have PM.
I think you should use more like 1/4 cup of BS and LJ for containers that small. You will be very happy you washed!
 
Okay i will skip the peroxide step as i have definitely had no PM.
Ill use a 1/4 cup of each BS & LJ too. TYSM 💚

So just that mix in one bucket at 2 other buckets with just water for the rinses and i should be good? Also I'm just using room temp tap water is this also ok? I'm in the UK and the tap water in my area is decent.

Thankyou , I'm excited for my first wash 😅
 
:Namaste: Everything will be fine.

Don't be too concerned about swishing them around too much. Don't let the branches bang against the sides or each other (if you're washing more than one) but swish 'em good. :cheesygrinsmiley: I thrash the crap out of mine, even if I don't recommend it to others. A fast up and down dunking works best for me.

You'll probably find that they dry quicker during the hang, so be prepared for that.

And the produce should smoke surprisingly smooth. :thumb:
 
Sweet 😊 I'm only going to do the one plant tomorrow so I'll do one branch at a time and I'll make sure i dunk em good 😁.

My last grow i hung the whole plant and it took a week to dry, how much faster are we talking ? I Thought it would take longer as thats what I've read ( ive gone down too many rabbit holes ) 😂 there is so much info out there, im glad i found this thread 😌
 
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